i have a 71 f250 stepside that has a worn out 390 to replace it will cost 1900.00 plus labor for a mechanic equeals 2900.00 i bought a 77 b600 bus that has a 330xd which is the same as 330hd it also has a allison 540 transmission 4 speed i only paid 100.00 for it i want to put it in my f250 it looks like it should fit but i know i need a custom driveshaft i know a 330 doesnt have the horsepower but to rebuild my 390 it will cost 1900 .00 because the heads have to modified for unleaded fuel if any one can help

thank you

 

I think hardened valve seats really don't matter unless you really plan on running the bejesus out of your engine. I have used some motors designed for leaded fuel and never had a problem.

If your capable of doing an engine swap why not just bring him the engine and let him do the machine work and assembly and put it back in yourself? You'll save a lot of labor costs.

 

the 330xd in the bus only has 50.000 miles on it in my pickup it should last longer than a 390 i do a lot of heavy towing and heavy hauling the 330xd pulls the 11000 pound empty bus like its half the weight and the 330 and the 361 and the 391 commercial engines are cheaper and easier to find where i live in tucumcari new mexico the wrecking yards in clovis new mexico have lots of these engines i dont want the 390 i cant put it in the fte classafieds for 30 dayd as i just signed up.

 

im sorry i put down 390s i just cant see why they are so expensive to rebuild just to get 255hp and 376ft of torque i am not a rich ford pickup owner i have to use what i can find i love my f250 stepside sorry i trashed fe motors mike davis tucumcari new mexico

 

hey willowbilly will you tell ab barnes that in order to get a 390 to move the 8500 lbs he wants to move a stock 390 with 255 hp and 372 ft lbs of torque hes going to have to put some deep rear gears in his f350 uhaul or get a 390 with at least 500 hp or better i dont think he can get a engine like that for less than 4000.00 i wanted a 500 hp 390 but the best deal i could get was 4000.00 is 500 hp worth it i have a 77 b600 bus that has a 330xd that makes 185 hp at 4000 rpm and makes 300 ft lbs at 2000 rpm by the way the bus weighs 11500 lbs and has 680 rear gears with 825-20 tires that are 39 inches tall and still runs 68 mph not bad for a yellow tank. if you think a 390 with at least 500 hp can be built for less than 4000.00 than let me know so i can go get a rolls royce bank loan and put one in my 71 f 250 stepside instead of my 100.00 bus motor and trans

 

hey i just remembred that 330-361 -391 ft motors have sodium vavles so unleaded fuel wont hurt the engine

 

I don't see how you can get 500 HP from a 390 for $4000. I've got more than twice that invested in my FE, and I don't expect 500 HP.

Honestly, I think it would be running on the edge of streetability just to make a 500 HP 390, regardless of cost. In any case, a 390 making this kind of power is screaming! By no means is that a pulling motor.

 

The truth of the matter is it costs money to build an decent engine. In 1992 I spent $1700 getting my 300-6 shortblock rebuilt. At the time I could have got an over the counter longblock for around $1000. The engine builder I used built one engine at a time and totally blueprinted every thing. He filed all the ring end gaps, clearanced every bearing ect. I now have close to 100,000 miles on that rebuild and it still runs like the day it was new. I consider it money well spent. If you can find a decent used engine for cheap then that is cool. And I agree that a 500 horse 390 would be rather wild for a working truck but I have had stock 2bbl 390s that would out pull a stock 460. It was all in the gearing though. And on the subject of pulling, the best pulling truck I ever had was a 57 F-350 dually with a 312 and 5.13 gears. It would out pull any FE that I ever had, including a 428, most of which had 4.10s. There was a long grade on interstate 90 with a rest area at the bottom. I had a 10,000# trailer that the FEs couldn't get over without shifting down no matter how big a run I took. I could stop at the rest area with the 57 and still go over the top at 60 in high gear. And the 57 also had the best brakes I have ever had on any of the 50 or so pickups I have owned including my 97 powerstroke. It had a hydrovac behind the seat.

 

hey gtex hot rod magazine built a 450 horse 390 back in january of 2003 they spent 6044.00 if you want to see the build go to hotrod.com that is the reason i want to put in my bus 330xd i only have 100.00 in the whole bus what would you do i need help i like my f250 so does my wife who is in a wheelchair i dont like driving this 30 foot yellow monster
thank you
mike davis

-EDIT- Do not post tel #'s or addresses on the web -Admin

 

I don't have a problem with the 330. It's designed to be a towing motor.

The Hotrod 390....not a towing motor!

 

lrd is sorry for using tel#s and addresses

 

Just who is a b barnes anyway?

 

i changed my mind a friend of mine has a 71 1/2 ton that has a 68 472 caddy motor and trans that makes more hp and torque than the 330xd the caddy makes 525 ft pounds at 3000 rpm and weighs less than the 330xd im going to trade my bus and the 390 that is coming out of the truck i know its not a ford motor but theres lots of older rusted out caddys out there with good motors my dad back in the 50s built a 50 merc convert he channeled the body and put it on a 56 caddy frame he used the caddy motor and trans and suspension it was a very cool car evrything was chopped and channeled they dont build many of them anymore sorry for the rambling

 

Hey no problem! I've got a 500 caddy engine on the side of the house just waiting for a swap into something like an F100 but I'd probably get kicked out of here.

Barry

 

I was thinking of putting a 425 olds into mine. Which reminds me, I need to go check that out.
What about the 3 way brownie? Are you still getting that? If not e-mail me.